Manson documentary producers not welcome at Belmont Farm

By Rhonda Simmons

Published: June 27, 2008

Chuck and Jeanette Miller usually relish the national media attention that surrounds their legal moonshine operation in southern Culpeper County.

But the corn whiskey farmers want nothing to do with Charles Manson or a TV crew documenting the 1960s “Helter-Skelter” serial killer.

The Millers, who run Belmont Farm Distillery, say a Maryland-based production company was less than forthright about the macabre nature of its request. When the couple learned second-hand about the Manson angle, they felt betrayed.

“I told them they are not welcome on the farm and they are not welcome in Culpeper County,” said Jeanette, a mild-mannered, 62-year-old former schoolteacher.

According to the Millers, producer Faith Gaskins of Sirens Media, based in Silver Spring, Md., pitched the documentary as a “funny movie with lots of teenagers acting silly and frolicking around” and said that she needed a location to duplicate a 1960s California ranch.

The Millers say Gaskins hid the truth.

Sirens Media tells a different story.

The senior producer said her staff had been in regular communication with Chuck since May and that he knew the topic of the documentary.

“Chuck didn’t do a very good job of informing Jeanette,” Lucilla D’Agostino said. “(Jeanette) is the one who doesn’t like the content.”

Chuck, a 63-year-old master distiller, denies that statement and says being tied to a Manson documentary “would probably give us the wrong connotation, and we don’t want to be associated with that.”

He said the producers told him they would film a bonfire at the lake and some teenagers would swim in the creek; they even asked him not to cut his grass so the actors could frolic through an unkempt field.

Still filming here?
While this is a very unfortunate situation, D’Agostino said, her production company is still interested in downtown Culpeper.

They want to film Main Street and the historic Culpeper State Theatre as San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, an area famous for its role during the hub of the 1960s hippie movement. Many new residents found the Haight-Ashbury area to be a quaint and reasonable place to live considering its laid-back atmosphere and proximity to Hippie Hill.

D’Agostino said she plans to start filming in Culpeper in mid-July.

“It’s such a wonderful town,” she said. “Our relationship with the town is great, and we don’t want to pull out of the town.”

The crew had been scheduled to begin Tuesday morning on what was to be a four-day project marking the 40th anniversary of the Manson slaughters.

In the summer of 1969, Manson and his hippie cult “family members” killed several California residents, including actress Sharon Tate, who was nine months pregnant.

Manson is being held in Corcoran Prison in California after being found guilty of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

MSNBC associate Alli Bane, based in New York City, would not confirm if the 24-hour news organization plans to purchase the documentary, but she did say Wednesday that the company has several Manson productions in progress.

The documentary is expected to be released next year.

About the farm
Nestled in the far reaches of the Blue Ridge Mountain’s eastern foothills, the Belmont farm is located about 75 miles southwest of the nation’s capital, tucked away at the end of a long country gravel road. The farm spreads out over 124 acres, featuring a pond, green pastures, barns, horses, a stillhouse, gift shop, decorative well and plenty of trees.

Sitting on her spacious stillhouse porch Tuesday afternoon, a visibly upset Jeanette Miller said she was worried that the producers would still show up anyway.

“I think that they’re in town,” said Jeanette, who woke up early, just in case.

The Millers say they believe the producers may try to dupe another local, unassuming farmer.

“I’m just upset that they thought they would get away with this,” Jeanette said, adding that she received several cell phone messages Monday from Sirens Media producers pleading with her not to call off the shoot.

Gaskins did not return calls from the Star-Exponent.

The town’s benefit
Culpeper Director of Tourism Beth Burns points to the positive side of the production.

“Certainly, Manson is a frightening topic,” she said. “However, Culpeper would be portraying Haight-Ashbury just like any actor takes on a role. I don’t think there would be any negative reflection on Culpeper, and the economic benefits of the production being here would be worthwhile.

“Film production is like having a group of super tourists visit your town. They spend money, not only on food and lodging, but various other things they might need for production, from building supplies to port-a-johns. Not to mention wages paid to any local extra or production assistance they may hire.”

Veteran media sweethearts
The Millers are no strangers to the spotlight.

Chuck, a friendly Southern gentleman, welcomes visitors on a daily basis, showing them around his pride and joy: his distinctive whiskey distillery on U.S. 522.

In 2004, the History Channel taped the farm for a nationally syndicated show. Two years later, the National Geographic Channel featured the distillery. Last month, Voice of America interviewed the couple for a piece that was translated into 46 languages.

“I didn’t know that many languages existed,” Chuck said with a laugh.

Next April, Southern Living will feature the farm in its monthly magazine.

Chuck, who would have played a farmer in Sirens Media’s documentary, joked that he’d “finally been discovered.”

Now, though, he and his wife are just as happy to stay out of the spotlight.

Rhonda Simmons can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 125 or .